provo

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Along State Street is a vine covered building that was once The Water Hole, one of the few bars in ultra-conservative Provo, Utah. The bar is gone, the sign is down, but Bud Olsen has stubbornly made the old place his home. The Water Hole has been known by three other names in its 47 year history, and 76 year old Bud can rattle them off with perfect clarity. Bud ran The Whip in Provo with his wife for many years. His wife passed in 2007, and the bar is what he has left. I wasn’t able to capture all of Bud’s history. He did allow me to take his picture in front of the bar. Someday it will be lost to the march of time.

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It is hard to miss Bill Harris Music on University Avenue. The unique glass front shows off shiny new drum sets, pianos, and more. Driving by I couldn’t resist a peek inside. “Can I help you find something?” said a man seated behind a desk. It didn’t take long for Mr. Harris and I to strike up a conversation. Bill has been in business for 61 years. At one time his Provo store was the largest distributor of pianos in the state. Bill admits that pianos don’t sell as well these days. “Kids want to learn to play the guitar these days,” Bill told me, “it is easier to learn than the piano. That takes commitment.” The sales floor holds a loose collection of musical instruments arranged haphazardly. Guitars on one side, pianos on the other, and everything else randomly distributed. Stacks of paperwork mixed with sheet music clutters Bills desk, along with leftovers from lunch. I asked him if the apparent disarray in the store was planned, “it just happened that way,” he said.

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